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4.4 Secure Erase
Secure Erase is a set of firmware commands available on many ATA drives. These commands are
used as a secure method of data sanitization by completely overwriting all data on a drive. When a
Secure Erase command is issued against a SSD, all of its cells will be marked as empty, restoring it to
factory default configuration. Unlike Disk Wipe and Disk Erase, the Secure Erase process is effective
at sanitizing SSDs because it can access and erase all sectors on a SSD.
Secure Erase is approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special
Publication 800-88 as a method for purging ATA hard disk drives.
Caution!
Unlike Disk Wipe or Disk Erase , the duplicator only invokes the Secure Erase command.
The actual data wiping is done at the drive firmware level. Please keep the following points in mind:
•
Although most ATA drive manufacturers include Secure Erase commands in firmware, not all
do. Please check with the drive manufacturer to verify that your drive model supports ATA
Secure Erase before attempting.
•
Although the duplicator can report whether the function completed, it cannot guarantee that the
Secure Erase function was implemented correctly by the drive. It is recommended to check with
the drive manufacturer for verification that the data was actually wiped.
4.5 Enhanced Secure Erase
Secure Erase is a set of firmware commands available on many ATA drives. These commands are
used as a secure method of data sanitization by completely overwriting all data on a drive. The type
of sanitization method implemented by Enhanced Secure Erase is device-specific, and may vary from
drive to drive. In some cases, the Enhanced Secure Erase will overwrite all sectors with a predefined
pattern of ones and zeroes. In other cases, the drive has an internal encryption key which is simply
destroyed and regenerated. Unlike Disk Wipe and Disk Erase, the Enhanced Secure Erase process is
effective at sanitizing SSDs because it can access and erase all sectors on a SSD.
Enhanced Secure Erase is approved by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Special Publication 800-88 as a method for purging ATA hard disk drives.
Caution!
Unlike Disk Wipe or Disk Erase , the duplicator only invokes the Enhanced Secure Erase
command. The actual data wiping is done at the drive firmware level. Please keep the following
points in mind:
•
Only some ATA drive manufacturers include Secure Erase commands in firmware, most do
not. Please check with the drive manufacturer to verify that your drive model supports ATA
Enhanced Secure Erase before attempting.
•
If there are kernel of firmware bugs, executing the ATA Enhanced Secure Erase command
could render a drive unusable. It is recommended to check with the drive manufacturer before
performing this function.
Other Operations
